


Running After the Plane/Train

by lesdemonium (winnerstick), winnerstick



Series: Romtober 2020 [24]
Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotionally Constipated Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia, Famous Jaskier | Dandelion, Friends With Benefits, Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia Has Feelings, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:33:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27176606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winnerstick/pseuds/lesdemonium, https://archiveofourown.org/users/winnerstick/pseuds/winnerstick
Summary: Before leaving for tour, Jaskier makes things more explicit than their casual "friends with benefits" relationship. Geralt doesn't respond well and has to fix it before he leaves.
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion
Series: Romtober 2020 [24]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1949827
Comments: 13
Kudos: 337





	Running After the Plane/Train

"You’ll miss me, won’t you?”

The question hung heavy in the silence. Geralt imagined he could hear the racing  _ thump thump thump  _ of Jaskier’s heart, but he knew that it was only his own he could hear. It sat there, just a moment too late, before Jaskier withdrew with a breathy laugh, soft and hurt. He had been pressed into Geralt’s chest when he said it, Geralt could feel the way his lips moved, but now he sat up, turned away. Collected himself for a moment with the blankets pooled in his lap and his skin shining silver in the moonlight from the window.

“Forgive me, I shouldn’t have--” Jaskier started, only to abruptly cut himself off. Geralt lifted himself to his elbows and reached out a hand to touch Jaskier’s bare shoulder. Jaskier pulled away. “I should go. Before I--well. I should just go.”

Geralt didn’t want that. He sat up as Jaskier bent over the side of the bed, retrieving his underwear and pulling it back on. “Jaskier, don’t--”

“No, it’s fine. I knew what this was. I crossed the line with that question.” He paused, ran a hand through his hair, and Geralt knew he wasn’t imagining the trembling of Jaskier’s hand. “I suppose I… got a little sentimental. Leaving home is never easy; it makes you a bit emotional. I’m sorry.”

Geralt’s heart ached. “You don’t have to leave,” was what he said, but what he meant was  _ I want you to stay. _ It was a subtle difference, but one Geralt knew Jaskier could reach the depths of. Wanting was so much harder, so much scarier, than simple permission. Geralt did not let himself want for anything, not even Jaskier. Jaskier, who was leaving him tomorrow to play his music for his hundreds of thousands of adoring fans. Jaskier, who had shared Geralt’s bed, Geralt’s kisses, Geralt’s life for the past several years, only interrupted by Jaskier’s tours.

When Jaskier left, Geralt always missed him. Each time, he thought, this would be the last. This time, the goodbye would stick, and Geralt would never get to share Jaskier’s light again. But Jaskier always came back to him. Despite the distance Geralt kept between them, Jaskier always came back.

Something was different, this time. Geralt could see it in the set of Jaskier’s shoulders, the way he was hiding his face from Geralt. This time, Jaskier wasn’t coming back. This time, what they had between them would be lost to the silence Geralt had wrought.

“I’ll get myself to the plane,” Jaskier said, and he took a deep breath. “No need to trouble yourself.”

“Jaskier, you  _ don’t need to go _ . Your bags are already here, I can drive you tomorrow. Just stay the night.”

Jaskier huffed out another hurt laugh at that, and when he turned to Geralt, his eyes were red-rimmed. 

“Don’t, Geralt. I don’t need to put myself up for any more disappointment, here.” He sniffed, then turned away. “I just keep hoping, you know? I keep hoping that eventually this will be more than this is. That you’ll love me the way I love you. It’s unfair to you, for me to keep putting these expectations on you. It’s unfair to me, to keep setting myself up to be hurt. So, no. It’s best if I spend my last night here somewhere else.” 

Now dressed, he walked to the bedroom door. There was a long moment when he stood there, barely silhouetted in the dim light. Then Jaskier took a deep breath.

“For what it’s worth, I will miss you desperately. I’d say I won’t write a song about this, but you didn’t figure out all the others were about you, so what’s the difference?”

He left. And Geralt’s bed had never felt colder.

\--

Geralt woke up the next morning in a frenzy. He did the bare minimum required to get ready, grabbed his food on his way out the door, and threw himself into the car. He hadn’t woken up early enough, and now he was running late. The only thing saving him now was the fact that Jaskier would be leaving from a private airport, not the big commercial one, and Geralt actually had a chance to get to him.

He called Yennefer on the way to the plane.

“You have to stall,” Geralt said in lieu of a greeting.

Yennefer paused for a moment. “You want me to  _ stall the plane _ ? Are you kidding me, Geralt? Don’t tell me  _ you’re _ the reason he’s been in a mood all morning. Why should I do any favors for you when you’ve made my life infinitely more frustrating today?”

“Yen, please. You have to stall the plane, and get me past security.”

“What power do you think  _ I _ hold in all this?”

“All of it?” He sounded a bit unsure but, really, Yen was in charge of everything when it came to Jaskier. Surely she could delay the plane, give Geralt some clearance to get there, and all without too much effort on her part. She just had to choose to.

She clicked her tongue. “Fine. You have thirty minutes. Not a second more.”

Geralt continued to sing her praises as he was escorted through security, straight to the gate, where Jaskier was arguing with Yennefer. 

“--being so cagey, Yen. I get it, you’re in charge, I’m not disputing that, but could you just tell me what it is we’re waiting for? I’d much rather wait on that plane in the comfortable chairs than on these terrible plastic ones and if I have to be a diva about  _ something _ I think this is a fair place to start--”

He stopped, then, and did a double-take as Geralt walked into the waiting room. Yennefer glared at him and made some gesture that Geralt couldn’t really decode, but he had a feeling had  _ something _ to do with him owing her. He could think about that later, though. All his attention was on Jaskier, who was now turned to him, with a guarded expression on his face.

“Geralt, what are you doing here?” Jaskier asked, and he crossed his arms. “You’re mighty lucky you caught me. But I have a feeling it didn’t have much to do with luck.” He turned to give Yennefer a suspicious glance, and she only raised her eyebrow in return.

“Yen, can we have a minute?” Geralt asked. She glared at him again, then huffed and walked away, off to do whatever it was agents did. Or she was just going off to complain about them. That would be fair. “Jaskier, we need to talk.”

Jaskier frowned at him and his eyebrows furrowed. “No,  _ you _ need to talk. I’m pretty sure I did my part last night. Only to be met with your silence.”

“I’ll miss you.”

Jaskier’s eyebrows pinched even further together. “This sure seems like a lot of trouble just to say that. And, Geralt, I’m sorry, but it’s just. It’s not enough anymore. I don’t--I can’t keep coming back to someone that thinks of me only as a bed warmer. You can’t play with me like that. I need more than your scraps.”

Geralt nodded. “You do. I just. I wanted to start there.” 

He took a deep breath, then stepped closer, right into Jaskier’s personal space. Jaskier didn’t step back, which was a pause, but he didn’t reach for Geralt either. Geralt reached for him, instead, and took his hips. Still, Jaskier didn’t return the embrace, but Geralt watched as his lower lip pouted out and he blinked, trying to dispel any wetness forming.

“I always miss you when you’re gone,” Geralt said. “I count down the days until you come back, until you’re with me again. I should have told you. I should have told you every time you left, and every time you came back. I want you to stay. I want you to come back. I want you however I can have you, for as long as I can have you. And I  _ do _ love you as you love me.”

Jaskier’s eyes were wet and red as a disbelieving smile crossed his face. He cupped Geralt’s cheeks and searched him, as if he was looking for any hint of a lie. 

“You stopped my plane to tell me all this?” Jaskier asked. “You really mean it? Every word of it?”

Geralt nodded again, and he savored the breathless, happy laugh Jaskier gave him. “I want to start over. Try again, and do it right. When you come back to me. If you come back to me.”

“Always, darling. I’ll always come back to you.”


End file.
